Myocardial infarction and ischemic heart disease in adult humans can result in dysfunction and irreversible cardiomyocyte loss, which damage and weaken the heart muscle. Cardiomyocyte loss and heart damage, if untreated, can lead to congestive heart failure, a leading cause of mortality, within a few years of the myocardial infarction or ischemia.
Myocardial functionality, especially among aging adult humans, typically, cannot be restored using a body's inherent healing mechanisms. Myocardial regeneration of cardiomyocytes in adult humans is also very limited. Furthermore, myocardial transplantation is restricted by a shortage of organ donors. Accordingly, means and methods of myogenesis and/or myocardial regeneration to supplement the adult human body's natural healing capability have become the subject of intensive research and investigation.
Cell transplantation, e.g., cellular cardiomyoplasty, is a method of replacing cardiomyocytes lost due to myocardial infarction or ischemia. Succinctly, autologous cells from other parts of the body or exogenous cells can be transplanted or engrafted in the myocardium. The transplanted or engrafted cells differentiate and, for reasons that are not fully known at this time, provide functional improvement of the myocardium.
A myriad of different cell types have been used for such cellular, or cell-based, therapies. For example, cell-based therapies have included, without limitation, adult cultured cardiac and skeletal muscle myocytes or myoblasts, progenitor cells from autologous bone marrow and/or peripheral blood, cultured mesenchymal and/or embryonic stem cells.
To enhance cell-growth, extracted cells regardless of their source of origin can be artificially cultured. Cell culturing involves harvesting autologous muscle cells or tissue, blood cells, stem cells, culturing the cells or tissue in vitro or in vivo to provide a higher cell density and introducing the cultured cells in the damaged portion of the myocardium. Historic problems with cell culturing include the expense, the potentially hazardous nature of the harvesting process, the time needed to culture the cells, and the equipment needed to harvest and implant the cells.
Methods for improving myocardial functionality include retrieving myocyte micro-granules from a donor area placing the myocyte micro-granules in a fluid container and implanting the myocyte micro-granule fluid.
There is a continuing need for improvement in systems and methods for cellular regeneration of tissue.